© 2021 The Australian Crossword Club

A Little Bit... by Zinzan 3Cryptic by JAXA 4Cryptic by Katydid 5AJ by Manveru 6Cryptic by Whynot? 7Slot 6 by Crowsman 8Quiz No 4/2021 9Results of Quiz No 2/21 9Member News 9Members' Comments 10Explanations 12Crowsman's Corner 13

page

A good clue can give you all the pleasures of being duped that a mystery story can. It has surface innocence, surprise, the revelation of a concealed meaning, and the catharsis of solution. Stephen Sondheim

www.crosswordclub.org

Cr world

President president@crosswordclub.org

Secretary Jenny Wenham 48 Shakespeare Street Comet Qld 4702 Ph 0407 643 277 secretary@crosswordclub.org

Coordination Ian Williams 12 Lindrum Cres, Holt ACT 2615 Ph 0417 493 431 puzzle_editor@crosswordclub.org

Puzzle No. 1 2 3 4 5 TotalEntries received 85 73 75 85 91 464Correct entries 70 57 54 76 77 394Success rate (%) 82 78 72 89 84.6 84.9Prizewinners Jenny Madden Claire Batum Ken Davis Ian McKenzie Stephen Peach from 106

members

CONTENTSLEADING FIGURES

CONTACTS

GRIDATORIAL FROM THE ADJUDICATOR

No.371 APRIL 2021

T

HE AUSTRALIAN CROSSWORD CLUB

WA

NTQld

SA

NSW

Vic

Tas

Our eagle-eyed members will no doubt notice a few changes this month. We have tried to make the magazine more readable by adopting a font that we hope is easier to read. Please let us know if we have succeeded.

We have introduced an additional puzzle at Crowsman's Corner (see p9) to enhance your solving pleasure.

We have now developed a more robust member database and it has allowed us to identify some members who have subscribed but have given us no other detail. Would Kate Avallone, Pamela Deakin and M Jewel please note our plea on p9.

Thanks again to our volunteers who are assisting in the effective operation of the club. Your work is most welcome. You will see the excellent efforts of our new adjudicator Larry Kennedy opposite. Brian Tickle is kindly taking the adjudicator's chair for the April puzzles.

If you have any ideas on ways in which we can meet your needs more effectively, we'll be delighted to hear from you. See our email addresses below

Good luck with your solving this month. Ian

ACT

Prizewinner: March 2021 Slots 1-5: Doreen Jones. Congratulations!

OZ

Many appreciative comments were received for all slots (1 to 5). Clearly the puzzles were very enjoyable, as always, despite a fair number of traps for the unwary! Dots were lost across all slots due to spelling errors.Slot 1: The Half and Half is always a good start to the month’s challenges and this one was no exception. However, SHAKE UPS rattled some solvers with 6 occurrences of SHAPE UPS, 2 of SCALE UPS and 1 of SHAPESUP. Also, 2 offerings of ASSUME for ASSURE and 1 of UNLOADERS for PILLAGERS were received.Slot 2: This was a popular puzzle, with solvers especially enjoying the CAPITAL theme. Overseas travel may be out of the question for a while but we can still dream about it! The main errors were: BIGAMY for DIGAMY (10 occurrences). Also, MNOTICE and GNOTICE were offered for DNOTICE.Slot 3: This was quite a tricky puzzle which required a fair bit of research to find unusual words eg: ROBREDO produced offerings of ROBLEDO and ROBRERO. Also 4 occurrences of YANKEES were offered for YONKERS. Slot 4: As always, the AJ was an enjoyable but challenging puzzle, with a few stumbling blocks such as GORY for GORE (4 occurrences), and BLANK for BLAND (2 occurrences).Slot 5: Many solvers found this one difficult, which is reflected in a wide variety of errors, notably 13 occurrences of BEERS for BREWS, missing the homophone of BRUISE (LESION in 6 down). (Perhaps, a case of confusion involving too many beers?) Also received were 8 occurrences of APES for AVES, 6 of HELMETED for HALTERED and other minor errors. OOCYST (not a word you hear every day) produced a number of variations.COTM: Nominations were received for a wide variety of clues across multiple slots. However, the winner, with 5 votes, was KA with MAHOUT in slot 2.It was very interesting to get a small partial glimpse behind the scenes at the production of CrOZworld. A big thank-you to Ian for your help and guidance throughout the adjudication process. Larry Kennedy

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March 1-2021 March 2-2021 March 3-2021

March 4-2021 March 5-2021

MEMBERS RESULTS FOR March 2021 Slots 1 to 5 & February 2021 Slot 6

February 6-2021

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For Online entry, submission and adjudication via ACCOLADE click on ACCOLADE button on www.crosswordclub.org home page.

By mail for Slots 1-5: Brian Tickle PO Box PO Box 955 Taree NSW 2430 or email brijoy@tpg.com.au Closing mail date: Friday 30 April 2021

Slots 6 and 7: Len Colgan 1 Ailsa Avenue Warradale SA 5046 or (preferably) by email to len.colgan@unisa.edu.au Closing mail date: Friday 14 May 2021

Slot 1

A Little Bit More of

Everythingby

Zinzan

GOODGRIDS

PAGE 11

SENDSOLUTIONS

TO:

Prize$35

Across 1 Noblewoman of the French board

game (7) 5 Jesse James, for one (6) 8 Comparable to taking restrictions

down (4) 9 Middle Eastern resident (7) 11 It’s pretty easy with eight and a

third feet? (5) 13 Bobby or 26-down 11, 15-down 4

(6) 16 Fictional horse or 26-down 11, 15-

down 5 (6) 18 Impulse (4) 19 Objects (8) 22 Start a car with booster cables (4) 24 Short flight (3) 25 Caribbean Tree, sung Elvis

regularly (4) 27 Hole-in-one (most times) (5) 28 Old Peruvian restricted within one’s

vehicle (2-3) 29 Madcap (4) 30 Easy as 1-2-3, for The Jackson 5

(3) 32 An amount in 4-down possibly (4) 33 Italian cuppa (8) 37 An advantage held by landed

gentry (4) 39 (with 22-across) What 24, 4 and

22-across are now called (6)

41 Moths, for example, initially grow extra responsive sensors (6)

44 Violent behaviour (5) 46 Drooled over loose drawer (7) 48 Clue or 26-down 14, 15-down 6 (4) 49 Rung (6) 50 God or 26-down 12, 15-down 6 (7)

Down 1 Embankments (5) 2 Crustacean’s head that hurts a whale

possibly (3) 3 Sudden indescribable intuitive enlighten-

ment (6) 4 Container for ore or rubbish (4) 5 In the old days (4) 6 Money or 26-down 14, 15-down 5 (3) 7 Recoil from wild boar consuming

Brahman’s heart (5) 10 Tea and VoVo? (4) 12 Appliance or 26-down 8, 15-down 4 (4) 14 Monetary unit of the Dominican Republic

(4) 15 Rising anger stopping school’s final

mark? (6) 17 The amount of light emitted per second

in a unit solid angle of one steradian from a uniform source of one candela (5)

18 Captain Renault’s variety of suspects (5) 20 Do as a gun does (5)

21 Ben-Hur and others (5) 22 (with up) Made more appealing

(6) 23 EFT recipient (5) 26 Reduced spread over associate

(5) 31 Noted Austrian invested in

rubber gloves (4) 34 Scrutinize (4) 35 Walked all over the place in

Dorset (6) 36 More or less Welles’ final cut

(2,2) 38 Suffix for cardio, seismo, tele

(5) 40 Every January, a Yankee leaves

too soon (5) 42 Wealth or 26-down 11, 15-

down 6 (4) 43 Centrally hoarded a mature

cheese (4) 45 PK maybe (3) 47 Bud’s partner (3)

Cryptic clues are in italics

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Across 1 An event I organized for the blind (8) 5 1-across lawyer left on ship with heartless idea

(6) 10 Sound? Not so - we entered without a partner

(5) 11 Beginning of tattooing a hit with Ian’s islanders

(9) 12 M, M and M? (9) 13 One in central Agra is a doomed person (5) 14 Mafia’s Chief Officer loses mother, makes a mess

of things (6) 16 Makes sure about parts of foot (7) 19 Food in oven is on menu (7) 21 Remove end of a sausage and insert a salutation

(6) 23 Bounce after losing top weight (5) 25 Give funds to get on top of person in charge of

wages... (9) 27 ...so that I do not err on making change (2,5,2) 28 Behaving like Lassie, losing head while feeling

effect of fleas (5) 29 Make mistake in diffident wine (6) 30 Flay chief person who needs no hair-brush (8)

Down 1 Proudly displays five relations (6) 2 I went on an altered approach to physics (9) 3 Odd parts of this dress used in water movements

(5) 4 1-across trader engulfed by giant onion (7) 6 Turn up company label on a second class kind of

figure (9) 7 Finn’s creator in after failed airline (5) 8 Hard to follow when disarrayed tabs precede

subterfuge (8) 9 Possible stimulus for evacuation in Murphy’s ice-

cream (6) 15 Take us back before non-miser gets clothing

accessory (9) 17 Listen! Essence of Bach in the sorrowful feeling

(9) 18 Transport hire company absorbs bad coin to get

flying circuits (8) 20 Linen initially not appropriate for each year (6) 21 Throw security device for 1-across financier (7) 22 Saw through solid adult emtertainment in which

centre of Playboy replaced middle of content (1-5)

24 Who is in empty theatre at midday before early opening? (2,3)

26 Concerning Ali with odd gang elements: get it straight! (5)

Slot 2

Prize$35

Crypticby

JAXA

GENERAL COMMENTS:• Thanks again. Michael McCabe• My first submission. I was visiting my mum, Margaret Pyc, in Wagga Wagga and we worked on

these together. I'm now back in Brisbane. Hi to everyone. Stephen Peach• Thank you for making these puzzles available to me even if I am getting a bit slow these days. Much

appreciated. Norma Heyes• Thanks for another delightful month. Robyn Wimbush• Thank you very much for my Slot 4 prize last month – most appreciated. Alison Shield

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Crypticby

Katydid

Slot 3

Prize$35

Across 1 Do some zeds! (4) 4 Weigh anchor, said Kelly, he’s not lamented.

(9) 9 Pierce straight through armoured body

openings (4) 10 Being drag queen reflected pride (4-6) 11 In Germany, brawls led to shut-eye (6) 12 7 for a drink before bed (8) 13 State to which many solutions relate (9) 15 Want not, right at the end (5) 16 Old enough for some sofa get-together (2,3) 18 Reported late or with estimate cut: bring to a

close (3,2,4) 23 Is Spooner’s rodent rubbish lying on this? (8) 24 Relax with reel out (6) 26 Ritual done unconventionally in casual dress

(10) 27 Top order to me (4) 28 Please let Angry crash (5,4)

29 Northerner in talk! (4)

Down 2 Soaring part of choir at North Lake (7) 3 Joint twisted below (5) 4 Upper-class quiet toff to surge (7) 5 Pigment active in an elm (7) 6 Ulsterman initially grins awkwardly; takes clothes

off (6) 7 14 rhyming pyjamas (9) 8 Spooner’s dark humour lies deep asleep (7) 14 The n’th mirage disturbed a bad dream (9) 17 Florida rellie, putting style first, shows off (7) 19 Gore leaves Oz for country (7) 20 Find a bed finally at mall in SA capital (7) 21 Bringer of sweet sleep spins Nan’s dream, noteless

(7) 22 Smutty dad massaged loose skin (6) 25 Dunlop tire? (5)

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Solutions begin with the given letter.

Place them in the grid jigsaw-wise,

where they fit.

AJby

Manveru

Slot 4

Prize$35

A Expressing regret for terrible slip long ago, with the loss of one life primarily (11)

B It’s happening live, coming from above (9) C Revolutionary power requiring atomic

infusion is affordable (5) D A small coffee is steamed perhaps (9) E Marsupial found on edges of pristine land

mass (6) F Made smooth fine coffee with hints of nut,

elderberry and demerara (9) G Fatty piece of cake following starters of

goulash and ratatouille (6) H Shipyard destroyed after export of

international phosphorus - monsters! (6) I Run through current map designed by the

French (6) J Sending to prison, after judge initially rejects

releasing on a bond (7) K One using strokes on a canvas? (7) L State bail-out with injection of yen (5) M Develops fluid for immunisation backed to

smother coronavirus’s core temperature (7)

N Gain about ten dollars, initially euro put up to get close (4-4)

O Hit casino and clubs after love affair (8) P Person in slammer, ultimately criminal! (8) Q This can be thrown back to a fast bowler? (7) R US zebra is free to wander in the short marsh

grass (7) S Queen disposed after quarrels perhaps in Alice-in-

Wonderland (7) T Time needed by Australian cricket team to find a

coach for hire (4) U Moles, based here with peacekeepers, return

communist to base (11) V Helping to secure one under very active change (9) W Driver is in a state and beyond recovery? (7) X The wireless code to initialise the Xbox? (4) Y Eurasian capital is at the forefront after year before

(7) Z Aircraft line, perhaps, supporting zero emissions,

initially very quiet (8)

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Crypticby

Whynot?

Slot 5

Prize$35

Across 1 Cross contract to begin with if I break the

bottom line (8) 5 Favour before official’s returned (6) 9 Southern hotel organised fine Irish party (4,4) 10 Trademark reversal of 44.44% of Victoria’s

capital - why not? (6) 12 More cross in English craft coming back (5) 13 In cricket, perhaps batter losing bat could be

cross (9) 14 Cunning, as Mona’s said to be? (6) 16 Cross gone, mural oddly misinterpreted (7) 19 Misfortune I will chance (3,4) 21 Approve if a try is converted (6) 23 Ruined at the start, everyone got on top

surprisingly (4,2,3) 25 Cross endless range by railway (5) 26 Australian native reportedly stunned flying fox

(6) 27 Disheartened sailor, unwilling to cross (8) 28 Toot for young man? That’s special (6) 29 Made phone call. Demanded repayment (6,2)

Down 1 Fondle girdle with sweet-talk at first overcoming

resistance (6) 2 Irregular peacekeepers not refined (9) 3 Lower down is popular and far away (5) 4 First sign (7) 6 Old master’s class in miserable term (9) 7 Bogus friends act like someone else primarily (5) 8 From a distance, note accommodation secretly at

last (8) 11 Spring from dam (4) 15 Cross oxidation in cargo announced (9) 17 Sum in red calculated again (9) 18 Endless pain in face makes one cross! (8) 20 Eclipsing record knight held on to (4) 21 City one goes round with umbrella after vacation

(7) 22 Wife nervy about fictitious dragon (6) 24 Only sane traveller here? (5) 25 Caveman village hides metal block (5)

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Slot 6A Head-

scratching Puzzle by Crowsman

Submit solution via ACCOLADE button on www.crosswordclub.org home page or post to Len Colgan, 1 Ailsa Avenue, Warradale, SA 5046 or (preferably) by email to len.colgan@unisa.edu.au Closing mail date: Friday 14 May 2021.

Prize$35

Each Across clue is normal, including the word-length

indicator, yielding an answer. However, do not enter this

answer. Instead, enter a shorter word, which is completely

undefined, according to the 30-letter instruction comprising

the two long grid diagonals. Down clues are normal and

unaffected.Across

8 Invincible Arthur’s folk dance (6) 10 Act of enticing surprisingly used stick (10) 11 Monk with gin, said to be drunk (8) 12 Zone includes boundaries of lime picker (8) 13 Metallic element – the lot I put into paste (7) 14 They deliver most bats inside cage (7) 18 Passageway is covered with drink (5) 19 Initially adjusted current – not new (6) 20 General gave freely around university (5) 23 Subdivision dismissed right wing (7) 24 Ill overshadows small Irish vision (7) 27 What drivers seek using honest means (8) 29 Ramrod click, after turning tight (8) 31 Mean changes curtail special (10) 32 Astronaut goes through main points again

upon returning? (6)

Down 1 Supporters dismiss new entries (5) 2 Stop suddenly and stay (4) 3 Little money gets a source of nitrogen for

cornflower (9) 4 Start going north, having travelled on the

underground? (5) 5 Respect limits second setback (7) 6 Worst round (4) 7 Repeated actions have one European in

dazes (9) 9 Silence female caught in set of steps (6) 13 Share out a rising cost (5) 15 Male, highly excited and eager grandchild

of Noah (5) 16 Former British colony is within that male’s

range (9) 17 It helps to draw level after a number of

games of tennis (3,6) 21 Spies turn up in small plant, getting pieces

of artwork (7) 22 Moors lace drink (4,2) 25 It’s sung when lamps go out (5) 26 Short waist-down garment, right to scurry

along (5) 28 Priestess regularly soaks (4) 30 Long throw dismissed opener (4)

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Crowsman’s CornerIn order to provide more solving challenges for our members we are trialling an additional puzzle of rather higher difficulty in even months. We have dozens of early Crowsman puzzles gathering dust in our files, which are interesting, sneaky, challenging and definitely worthwhile for members in the new slot. The Crowsman’s Corner puzzle will be in addition to Len’s usual unpredictable offerings and, where appropriate, they will be updated. Most are straight cryptic crosswords, usually containing long answers, or AJ puzzles, in contrast to his more recent themed, quirky and Nina puzzles. These Crowsman’s Corner puzzles will be solvable via ACCOLADE and eligible for the normal prize: the solutions and explanations will accompany the next such puzzle two months later. Feedback on this initiative is welcome.

Quiz 4/2021 Alphabetic consonants by Crowsman. Within each answer, the consonants are in strict alphabetic order. The word-length indicator is followed by the number of consonants, at least five. For example, CALAMITY, with C,L,M,T,Y in alphabetic order, would use (8;5), whereas BEGLAMOURS would use (10;6). Here, Y is to be regarded as a consonant in all cases. Answers are also in alphabetic order. Send your solutions to Len Colgan, 1 Ailsa Avenue, Warradale, SA 5046 or (preferably) by email to len.colgan@unisa.edu.au Closing mail date: 14 May 2021. $35 prize.

1 Bellies (8;5) 2 Awardees of an undergraduate degree (9;6) 3 Farthest to the rear (8;6) 4 Deception by charm (11;6) 5 Scientist studying living things (10;6) 6 Capital city (9;6) 7 Follower of the Oxford Group movement (10;6) 8 Small shields used in parrying (8;6) 9 Capital city (8;5)10 Australian male swimming champion (8;6)11 Unenforceable litigation contract, where outside

party hopes for financial benefit (9;7)12 Passage for the escape of smoke and fumes

from a furnace (7;5)13 Colliery workers (10;6)14 The state of having a pillar crystal structure

such as schorl (11;7)

15 Writer of regular newspaper articles (9;6)16 Descriptive of any adjective expressing more or

greater degree (11;6)17 Absolute and unambiguous (10;5)18 Deteriorating (12;6)19 Tiny (10;5)20 Lights for hazy conditions (3,5;6)21 A plant partly deriving subsistence from its host

(12;6)22 A gathering for women only (3,5;6)23 Urgently necessary (10;5)24 Contamination (8;5)25 Evergreen coniferous shrubs (8;5)26 Scaly state (9;6)27 Famous or prominent member (8;5)28 Less than 50% (8;5)29 Universal equality (10;6)30 The state of being permeable (8;5)

Patrick StreetOn behalf of Patrick I would like to thank those who have written to him on his resignation from Crossword

Club duties. Of all the activities he has been involved with over the past 20+ years, the Club has always been the one which mattered the most. We have both enjoyed the many social occasions meeting other members but, sadly all good things must eventually come to an end. Thanks to all who wrote to say thanks and wish him well.Sandra Street

Welcome to new members: Stephen Peach of Kelvin Grove QLD.

Renewal of ACC Members: Iain McCulloch, Cath Fernando. Welcome back!

Donations to the Prize Fund: Many thanks to Andrew Miles for his generous donation.

Missing Members: As noted on page 1 we have received a subscription but no other details for a recently-joined member, Kate Avallone. Also missing-in-action are two members from late in 2020 who qualify for 2021 membership, Pamela Deakin and M Jewel. If these members would please let Jenny have their contact details we shall be delighted

Join our Facebook group and discuss anything to do with words and puzzles. (No discussion of current prize puzzles please.)Search for Australian Crossword Club or click the hyperlink

to send them their emailed copy of CrOZworld and other membership information.

Corrigendum:Our apologies for minor errors in Quiz 3/2021: #22 should read (5,6) and Clues # 24 and #25 should be switched to their appropriate alphabetical order. The prize for March Slot 3 was incorrectly recorded as going to Bob Hagan. It was won by Sam Howat.

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Member CommentsMarch 1: InGrid (Jean Barbour)

• 7d Small quibble: RATER is not a homophone of RAITA. Ian McKenzie• I enjoyed the wordplay in the ALBATROSS clue. ESCULENT sent me to my dictionary; where I learned it’s related to the word ESCAROLE. Fraser Simpson• Always nice to start with a Half and Half. Tony Dobele• EMBED comes from dEeMs BrEaD regularly rather than irregularly. Andrew Meek• A good solid start to the month. Thanks. Ulla Axelsen• My first half and half which was quite tricky but fun. Turned out trying the cryptics first worked best. I assumed it would be the other way. Thanks InGrid. Stephen Peach• Some nice clues; liked HEELER; thank you InGrid. Joan Smith• An enjoyable Slot 1. Nea Storey• I like InGrid’s ‘to the point’ answers. – Fog is PEA SOUP; dilapidated is MOTH-EATEN. Kept me grinning! Max Roddick• Fun! Stephen Matthews• Uncertain about answer for ‘restructures’ – so many possibilities! Bev Cockburn• A good puzzle to work on. Lynn Jarman

March 2: KA (Karl Audrens)• Liked MAHOUT. Ian McKenzie• The BRAS + ILIA charade is great! I also enjoyed the wordplay on CA(ST)RIES. This was fun! Fraser Simpson• TALLINN was the first clue I saw, so knew what was coming. Some great clues and many just a little unexpected e.g. ELSPET without an H. Ann Millard• Nice idea. Liked HAWTHORN. Len Colgan• I thought that I knew all the world’s capitals but CASTRIES was a new one for me. David Bennett• Good puzzle; but spoilt I thought by several clues containing an inappropriate word for linking the wordplay and definition; ie: TO (twice); HAS and ABOUT. Ian Thompson• Nice idea. Liked HAWTHORN. Also; a NUCLEAR accident? Len Colgan• A capital puzzle Tony Dobele• A capital puzzle. Thanks Karl. Betty Siegman• Around the world in eight words. Thanks for the trip. Ulla Axelsen• Clever clues. Made me smile - once I got them. Thanks KA. Stephen Peach• Capital cities Kingston; Tallinn; Freetown; Brasilia; Tashkent; Baghdad; Castries and Canberra. Would you believe; my home-town was the last I identified. Nea Storey• NUCLEAR. Coincidence or deliberate? I suspect the former. Richard Skinner• A gridful of good ones. I liked best EGGSHELL, HAWTHORN, INFANCY. Max Roddick• As well as the eight capitals; I also found NUCLEAR as a Nina! David Parsons• Some nice honest clues. DIGAMY was a new word for me. Bev Cockburn• Some wonderful clues. Robyn McKenzie• Two new words for my vocabulary ; DIGAMY and

AFREET. Fascinating. Enjoyed the common theme. A very happy enjoyable puzzle. Jean Evans

• Quite difficult with some unusual words.11 Across indicates Elspet but the name is surely Elspeth [Chambers lists “Elspet” as Scots - Adj].

Nausea is a symptom not an illness. Jill FreelandMarch 3: Lexi Conner (Ron Shapiro)

• I enjoyed the ELIZABETH clue. Surprisingly tricky! Fraser Simpson• An enjoyable puzzle. Thank you! Ann Millard• Wow! So many new words to drop into my next conversation. Tony Dobele• Lot of looking up references here. I liked ELIZABETH and voted IVANA COTM. Roy Taylor• Wow; what a corker this one was – demanding General Knowledge, research and lexicon skills! Judy Ferguson• Although clever compiling, I didn’t enjoy this one so much, as almost impossible to solve without the internet. Did like HIBERNIA though. Ulla Axelsen• How do you compilers have all this knowledge at your fingertips! Fantastic! Eileen O’Brien• This puzzle required a lot of Googling! Nea Storey• What a lovely word; SHUSHTAR. You’d think it was made for this puzzle! Max Roddick• Interesting tour around the globe meeting lots of equally interesting people! Richard Skinner• Difficult but rewarding puzzle but what is cryptic about ELIZABETH? Bev Cockburn• A lot of interesting clues, and ELIZABETH made me smile. Robyn McKenzie• Those proper nouns can be such a challenge! Lynn Jarman• Who am I to pass comment, but… a couple of clues seemed to have no 'cryptic' sense to them i.e.. ROONEYMARA and ELIZABETH. They belong in a quiz; not a 'cryptic' puzzle. Ian Mason

March 4: Valkyrie (Ulla Axelsen)• I really liked the seven different letter-counts for the 28 solutions and the clues for BLAND and EXCELLENT. Brian Tickle• I enjoyed this beginning to end. Delightful. Fraser Simpson• Took a bit of working out but a real sense of achievement when it all falls into place. Michael McCabe• Enjoyed this but didn’t understand L or Z. Tony Dobele• Nice to see a different grid. Len Colgan• Took a while to get started; favourite clue CLEAR OFF. Joan Smith• Liked HEDONISTS and XAVIER. Max Roddick• A very nice A-J. Loved CLEAR OFF! Bev Cockburn

March 5: Flowerman (Ian Thompson)• It took me a long time to realise that 1ac was a homophone clue! Fraser Simpson• Not sure about 21dn as I can only find a definition of MONYET as a monkey otherwise the answer seems to fit the clue. David Procter• Lot of tricky hurdles here. Roy Taylor• Took a while to get some. BREWS; clever. Roy Taylor• A typical no-issue Flowerman puzzle. Thanks! Len Colgan• What an encyclopaedia of answers. Ulla Axelsen• Not too confident. Few newbies! Good work-out! Eileen O’Brien• Challenging puzzle, favourite clue SHEMOZZLE. Joan Smith• Flowerman always gives me a headache! Nea Storey• Thank you for another mind bending puzzle. Loved the link between LESION and BREWS! Bev Cockburn

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APRIL 2 2021

BLANK GRIDS

APRIL 6 2021

APRIL 3 2021

APRIL 5 2021APRIL 4 2021

Submit solutions via ACCOLADE button on www.crosswordclub.org home page or post entries for Slots 1-5 to: Brian Tickle PO Box 955 Taree NSW 2430 email: brijoy@tpg.com.au Closing mail date: Friday 30 April 2021.

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February 6- 2021 Cryptic by the Mythtics (Ian Williams and Ulla Axelsen)Entries 28 . Correct 23. Success rate 82.1%Winner: Richard Skinner. Congratulations!Compiler’s Comments.Thank-you to all who attempted this puzzle and for all the positive and constructive comments. The common element was, as most discovered, PRO. The complexity of this puzzle was reflected by the number of entries: pleasingly though, the success rate was quite high.Explanations:

Across: 9 PRO + PORTION + ALLY, 10 PRO + MOT + IN + G, 12 PRO + DUCE, 13 PRO + TEST + ANTS, 14 PRO + FESS + OR, 15 PRO + V + O + KED, 18 PRO + (AGGRESSION - AG) = COURSE = SERIES, 22 LIBERAL = PRO+FUSE = AMPLE, 24 WALT DISNEY = PRO+(CRUDE)* = FILM-MAKER, 26 PRO+ PELLucid + ANT = SPRAY = AEROSOL, 27 PRO+SPEC(T)S = OPPORTUNITIES = CHANCES, 30 DELIBERATE SLOWNESS = PRO(RACIST)*+NATION = DELAYING TACTICS. Down: 1 SC + AB, 2 clERIC, 3 EX in SINE + SS, 4 (PEDAGOGUE - dug)*, 5 homoph “nth” + USES, 6 hidden, 7 vAGUE + CAKE, 8 MY STORY [E for O], 11 AD + EP + T, 16 EX+P(A<>E)RT + LY (homophone of LEA), 17 D+E+FILING, 19 RAMP+AN+CY, 20 OBSCENE - OB, 21 C(AN)ARDS, 23 Hidden, 25 COL< + ATE, 28 C+LIP, 29 S+A+SH.

Solvers’ Comments• Well-constructed; challenging puzzle. In my opinion; the 2nd last sentence of the instructions would be much more accurate if it read: “The word to be entered into the grid is a synonym of both i) the clued definition and ii) the common element plus the wordplay.” Ian McKenzie• I guess we all felt like a pro after solving this one! Fraser Simpson• I completed 75 per cent of the grid before I found the common element and then it was easy to complete the puzzle. A satisfying puzzle to solve. David Procter• Quite tricky. Ian Thompson• This was not easy. Hope I got all correct. Roy Taylor• I’m afraid the setters have totally beaten me here - I have no idea what the ‘trick’ is with the across clues - but here it is. Tony Dobele• Well; no-one could challenge the deserved location of this puzzle in Slot 6. I had solved and entered every down clue and still stared blankly at the across clues...the rubric contributed to the impenetrability. For a long time I was trying to add a word or words to the wordplay in the clues to make sense of them. Eventually; it dawned that PRO+ needed to be put at the start of each clued word followed by the letters generated by the wordplay that was present (thank you; PROCRASTINATION!). I liked the down clues for ENTHUSES; SEXINESS and CLIP. Not sure about DUCE = “foreign nobleman” (if that is what was intended); it seems unduly ennobling. PELLUCID less UCID; and KED = fly were pretty obscure even by the standards of the puzzle. Andrew Miles• Oh gee; that took some nutting out. First the instruction then the answers. Had many Downs before bravely inserting an Across. Andrew Patterson• Nearly gave up on this one! Finally managed to fill in all the squares; but am submitting it with fingers crossed. Nea Storey• I’m “all for” these sorts of puzzles. Richard

Skinner• Challenging puzzle. Thank goodness for the down clues. Joan Smith• I loved this one. Thank goodness it was only the across clues! It took me a while to discover that PRO was the missing link; and even then it was pleasingly complicated. Many thanks. Julie Crowe• Only fellow cruciverbalists could understand the elation on finding the common element (PRO) and completing this puzzle. I admit to having the synonyms entered in the grid and using the discovered original PRO words to check my answers! Maureen Blake• AGUE-CAKE was new to me. A couple of lucky guesses helped! Anne Simons• Too hard for me. Filled in the grid with guesses; but just can’t see the wordplay. Rob Moline• Ingenious! Bev Cockburn If I had had any hair before puzzle; it would all be gone now. I still cannot see the pattern; though I have answered all the clues. I am least sure about 18ac; not much surer about the rest. I look forward to the explanation. Mike Potts

Explanations for March Slots 1 to 5Note: cd = cryptic definition; dd = double definition; rev or < = reversal; homophones are noted as “homoph” and words from which they are derived may be shown in quotes; anagrams as anag. if straightforward, or (NNNN)*. “Heads” or Tails” are first or last letters of part of a clue; letters forming solutions are normally written as capitals and removals as lower case;hw or hidden = hidden word. Explanations provided by individual compilers may vary from this format.Slot 1 InGrid. Down: 1 pan+AMA, 2 alb+a+sort<+s, 3 ear-lOBE SE, 4 anag, 5 Unless Nobleman Mentions Another Name, 6 Anagram of EBULLETIN, 7 sounds like rater, 8 h(eel)er, 14 anag funeral director - cd loan, 16 anti+past+o, 17 pill(anag gear)s, 20 ass+u+re, 21 anag, 23 dEeMsBrEaD, 24 eveiCREP Ew, 25 (t)itchy. Slot 2 KA. Across: 8 dig+amy, 9 air+craft, 10 egg+shell, 11 els+pet, 12 st+raw+man, 13 bo(rev)+late, 14 d+(not)+ice, 17 in+fancy, 20 hid, 22 alar(Chamb)+mist, 25 hack+le, 26 anag+horn, 27 plan+aria , 28 anag. Down: 1 kings + ton, 2 na+use+a, 3 ly(anag)m Chamb, 4 tall+inn, 5 free+town, 6 bras+ilia, 7 hid<, 15 (ash+k) in tent, 16 can+Berra, 18 ca(st)ries, 19 bag+h+dad, 21 near+ly, 23 a+twill, 24 HAM< + OUT. Slot 3 Lexi Conner. Across: 1 DD, 4 SHUSH + TAR, 10 DUB + LINERS, 11 BAN + JOhn, 12 DE(LAW)AR + linE, 13 READ + E, 15 (AS sOON)<, 18 francoIS LAMbert, 19 MESS + IN + A, 20 pROBLEm, 22 DD, 24 (MAlaySIA)*, 25 PE(SARI)*NS, 28 DD, 29 Both called ELIZABETH, 30 alone< + GAY, 31 (a scare)*. Down: 1 aPHiDS, 2 (or bored)*, 3 DD, 5 ducHESSEs, 6 (rub us) < + BIAS, 7 mosTYN DALLington, 8 ROONEY + MARA, 9 (seen able)*, 14 random* + ACHE, 16 AM + ERICA + an<, 17 HI + (rain be)*, 21 sub< + HID + O, 23 YON + thinKERS, 25 PI + ETA, 26 IVAN + clAss, 27 THORpe. Slot 4 Valkyrie. A A+BA(CU)SES, A CA< + COUNT, B B+L+AND, C C(LEAR)OFF, D D(O+V)ETAIL+ED, E EX+CELL+ENT, F FOR+AGE, G G+O+R+E, H HE(DON)ISTS, I MINI< + IC+AL, J JEDI with TT for D + SON, K Double, L LEVEe + RAGING, M Hid-den, N N+ONAGEr, O (BELL IN A BOAT - L)*, P PAR+LANCE, P (CLEOPATRA - CAT)*, Q (FLORA QUITE)*, R RI(GI)D, S Double, T UT in ST<, U U(BRAIN)*SE, V V+tERSE, W W(ALL)ET, X X+A+VIER, Y Double, Z Reverse hidden.Slot 5 Flowerman. Across: 1 homoph “beaches”, 5 COLLIErS, 9 hEFT, 10 (G IS VIOLENT)* around N, 11 SEe + CRETe, 12 (IN A POLO Match)*, 14 ID ID in (O GO RED)*, 15 ManET Z, 17 cAVES, 19 GRAPe around (TO LIT), 22 DISC + O + U + NT, 23 (sTRANGE)*, 26 Y in (OLD CANINES)*, 27 hw, 28 (RECTor)* in SPA, 29 FEE around ORES. Down: 1 homoph “bruise”, 2 (TimiD NIECE)*, 3 HALTED around ER, 4 eSaU + VA, 5 (ON PLATEAU)* under C, 6 LES I(r)ON, 7 I (DOSE around IL<), 8 (SM around HE) + sOZZLEd, 13 MICRA around (ONE S I) , 14 DEAl + D + DUCKS, 16 MA in PONDER, 18 NESS< in (E + CE), 20 (GENIUS O)*, 21 ((Of Common Yeast) in OS) + T(rachea), 24 TEMPERING - RING, 25 dd.

Cr

ACC

OZAPRIL 2021 world

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Crowsman's Corner

Across 1 Poke fun at head of Union confronting a

person who ordered demolition of walls (6) 4 Pass covers American stay (7) 9 Low cost lawyers clear those on base before

start of trial (7-8) 10 Not enamoured with earth scattered on the

house (5-4) 11 Common jade (5) 12 R-rated lover? (5) 13 They open surprisingly with a rookie (8) 15 On the make, is good after painkiller (8) 17 Copper possibly has food prepared around

end of beat (5) 20 Thunder has the French leaving a dance (5) 21 Successful type of bird secures its home with

resolution (9) 22 Fit ones died sheltering in tent, trying to do

the right thing (4-11) 23 In a frugal way, subdivided Springbank? (7) 24 General Hurley intervened in rejected

purplish food holder (6)

Down 1 Brothers, initially at the centre of ridicule, are to go

halves in employment (3-5) 2 Films a crash segment, turning to mockery (7) 3 Dubious writer is involved in one uplifting musical

(15) 4 European dwarf turned up during marking for

Cassandra’s act (14) 5 Mauling English soccer player drawn into insulting

an opponent (15) 6 Designate with hands to replace conservative

member (7) 7 Can having a pet around be indulgent? (6) 8 Between flights - time is lost gradually in an

inexorable way (14) 14 Youngster, interrupted by unpredictable delay,

misbehaved (6,2) 16 Fly briefly around African country to another (7) 18 Huge bird introduces fear without applying

pressure (7) 19 Norman leader is trapped by raised weapon - dies!

(6)

Submit solution via ACCOLADE button on www.crosswordclub.org home page or post to Len Colgan, 1 Ailsa Avenue, Warradale, SA 5046 or (preferably) by email to len.colgan@unisa.edu.au Closing mail date: Friday 14 May 2021.

Cr

ACC

OZAPRIL 2021 world

14

Quiz 2/2021. There is method in the madness by Raoul (William Ryan)Entries received 13; Correct 13; Success rate 100%Prizewinner: Len Colgan. Congratulations!

Compiler’s commentsThis started out as a fun idea, and was so, until I got to about Q. There were only a few ‘definitive answers’ - my attempt below. Apologies for a few blues in the final production - no marks deducted - and a few bonus points awarded for inventiveness.As an aside, thank you for all your commiserations on my Mastermind appearance; general consensus (shared by the show’s question setters), ’...too broad a topic for one person to digest every part of a History of Australian Female Publicans’. But ’twas fun. Can recommend.

Correct Entries: Ulla Axelsen, Bev Cockburn, Len Colgan, Julie Crowe, Pat Garner, Julie Leigh, Drew Meek, Andrew Patterson, David Procter, Fraser Simpson, Jenny Wenham, Keith Williams, Robyn Wimbush

Solutions:1 Auto-da-fe, 2 Abstemious, 3 Facetious, 4 Academy Award, 5 Alice In Wonderland, 6 A can of worms, 7 Calipygous, 8 Around the clock, 9 Advertising agency, 10 Full Metal Jacket, 11 Apparatchik, 12 Ante-jentacular, 13 Master of Ceremonies, 14 Insect repellents, 15 Anaphylactic shock, 16 Breakfast of Champions, 17 Capital of Mozambique, 18 American Express Card, 19 Alcoholics Anonymous, 20 Gross Domestic Product, 21 Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobe, 22 Two vegetarians from Kiev, 23 The latest edition of CrOZworld, 24 Platonicism – love with no sex!, 25 Ambassador plenipotentiary, 26 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz.

Solvers’ Comments• We’re in ever more strict lockdowns, and

Canada isn’t getting vaccines very quickly either. Plus it’s –10 C here. Colder with the wind chill. I researched and came up with some alternate phrases for V and W: "Revenge is a dish best serVed cold"; "Actions speak louder than Words". [Nice, thanks. R] I like your Full Metal Jacket answer! Fraser Simpson

• After suffering that solving torment, I think auto-da-fé would be a relief! Len Colgan

• I was struggling with Pandora’s Box, but today it struck me (I’m unhurt) Thanks for some lateral thinking fun. Jenny Wenham

• Greetings William. Thanks for a tough quiz. David Procter

• Also I am probably barking up the wrong tree but for number 7 Callipygian - Has 11 letters if I spell it with a double LL and puts the g as the 8th letter. I can’t find it spelled with a single L. Am I going crazy? Julie Leigh (No - mea culpa! R)

• I greatly enjoyed your quiz and spent quite a while finding a suitable answer for #24. I had lots of ideas which fitted but finally choose the one which may give you a bit of a laugh. Ulla Axelsen

• Well that was a tricky one! Took me ages to

understand what was happening. Julie Crowe• Sorry, didn’t enjoy this very much. Seems

to be far too open-ended, beyond the nominal numerical/alphabetical constraint and have given up with two left (ignoring the two that are in error). Keith Williams

• I think this was the strangest quiz I have ever seen, involving, as you said, some general knowledge but a great deal of research and a lot of lateral thinking plus a couple of hopeful guesses! Bev Cockburn

• Things OK here. Cold and wet and weathering the Covid storm. Trust things are well with you. Drew Meek

• No. 24 NFI. Andrew Patterson• Complete mystery to me this quiz as will

be many of my answers to you Raoul! I do love to submit an entry though. Thank you (I think). Robyn Wimbush

• Just loved playing with this. What an amazing idea you constructed this around! Keep up the good work of amusing the members - so nice it is not all serious business. Pat Garner

• I know where you live. Anonymous [redacted]

6x6 WORD SQUARE 5 by Fraz (solution next month)

Identical words read across and down in this square. Clues are not listed in order.

• Wild Uma Thurman releases mama without a scratch• Extremely silly check method• In report, makes reference to tourist stops• Slender hotel encircled by cloudy region?• Men not starting unit in a forest course• Children’s author and I recalled problems issues

6x6 WORD SQUARE 6 by Fraz (solution next month)

Identical words read across and down in this square. Clues are not listed in order.

• Ambulance attendant meets one Italian family• Big brute crosses peaks!• Sent away Dee, around 59, to the west• Muttered comments like “The day to beware in

March” • Appeared right by a surveillance device• Withdraw sow again audibly